Hold Congress Accountable

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Join Us for School Choice in Erie, Pennsylvania

School Choice Week is here at last! FreedomWorks shares the passion of National School Choice Week to help all children gain access to a better education. As part of this effort, we are co-hosting an event this Thursday, January 31, in Erie, Pennsylvania and hope you can join us! Pennsylvania is starting one of the largest private school tax credit programs in the country, and we are proud to support them and the work they are doing for Pennsylvania's children.

Along with the Free to Choose Network and National School Choice Week, FreedomWorks will be sponsoring a reception with great speakers including Andrew Campanella, National School Choice Week President, PA Rep Jim Christiana, author of school choice legislation, and FreedomWorks’ own Ana Puig and Anastasia Przybylski. Join us at the Erie Art Museum starting at 4:30 PM to learn more about school choice and to support those fighting for every child to have a better education.

Not near Erie? The School Choice Week Whistlestop Tour is making a total of fourteen stops around the country. Check to see if there is a stop closer to home!

As the recent hearing in the Texas legislature shows, the school choice debate is far from over. The Texas House of Representatives faces pressure from public school administrators and teachers unions on one end and school choice proponents on the other.

FreedomWorks today called on the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to pass SB 1071, which would fundamentally reform the Commonwealth’s pension programs, the State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS) and Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS).

Current Pennsylvania law allows police to seize property without due process or conviction of a crime. Civil asset forfeiture legally incentivizes policing for profit by allowing the police to keep 100 percent of the proceeds from seizures. This practice creates a conflict of interest for the authorities who benefit monetarily from seizing property.

On behalf of the FreedomWorks activist community in Pennsylvania, I urge you to support the amended version of Senate Bill 869, sponsored by state Sen. Mike Folmer (R-Lebanon). The bill reforms the Commonwealth’s civil asset forfeiture laws to provide more protections for innocent property owners.

Last week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee held an additional hearing about the proposed implementation regulations for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). As noted before, the proposed regulations go well beyond the law passed by Congress as the Department of Education (DOEd) continues seeking to meddle in local schools. The testimony of the witnesses highlights the need for public input pushing back on the federal government’s proposed regulations, which include a potential back door route to reimpose Common Core mandates on the states.

Last month's proposed rules on school accountability are yet another reminder that it’s time for federal bureaucrats at the Department of Education to get their hands out of our education system. In its latest power grab, the department seeks to enact top-down measures that would remove authority from the hands of teachers, school districts, and state government. The regulation would impose Education Department-mandated accountability measures promulgating federal government oversight over student and school achievement.

FreedomWorks today urged the Pennsylvania Senate to pass its version of reforms to the state pension programs, the State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS) and Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS). The Senate’s proposed “side-by-side” pension reform addresses the long-term crisis facing state pension programs in a comprehensive and responsible way, significantly reducing the risk to taxpayers. FreedomWorks has driven nearly 30,000 messages to senators urging them to pass the upper chamber’s proposed pension reform plan.

Yesterday's proposed rules on school accountability are yet another reminder that it’s time for federal bureaucrats at the Department of Education to get their hands out of our education system. In its latest power-grab, the department seeks to enact top-down measures that would remove authority from the hands of teachers, school districts, and state government. The regulation would impose Education Department-mandated accountability measures promulgating federal government oversight over student and school achievement.

In an attempt to circumvent Congress and move the free college agenda forward, The White House will launch a $100 million grant program for free community college tuition. The new program, America’s Promise Grants, was unveiled last week by Vice President Biden in a speech at the Community College of Philadelphia.

Common Core Fails, but Education Department Tries to Silence Critics
This month we are in the middle of what the Department of Education educrats have labelled as “Testing Season.” That’s right. It’s not duck season, it’s not rabbit season, it’s Testing Season. As hundreds of thousands of students opt out of Common Core testing, teachers are weighing the professional risks of speaking out against this testing. Instead of fixing the problems with Common Core and its myriad of regulations, Education Department bureaucrats have resorted to shooting the messengers – our nation’s teachers. Perhaps Testing Season should be renamed Hunting Season.